1.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
3.
Gymnasium (school)
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In its current meaning, it usually refers to secondary schools focused on preparing students to enter a university for advanced academic study. In the US, the German Gymnasium curriculum was used at a number of universities such as the University of Michigan as a model for their undergraduate college programs. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men, in the Polish educational system the gimnazjum is a middle school for pupils aged 13 to 16. The same applies in the Greek educational system, with the option of Εσπερινό Γυμνάσιο for adults. The gymnasium is a school which prepares the student for higher education at a university. They are thus meant for the more academically minded students, who are sifted out at about the age of 10–13, in addition to the usual curriculum, students of a gymnasium often study Latin and Ancient Greek. Some gymnasiums provide general education, others have a specific focus, today, a number of other areas of specialization exist, such as gymnasiums specializing in economics, technology or domestic sciences. In some countries, there is a notion of progymnasium, which is equivalent to beginning classes of the full gymnasium, here, the prefix pro indicates that this curriculum precedes normal gymnasium studies. The term was derived from the classical Greek word gymnasion, which was applied to an exercising ground in ancient Athens. Here teachers gathered and gave instruction between the hours devoted to exercises and sports, and thus the term became associated with. This use of the term did not prevail among the Romans, but was revived during the Renaissance in Italy, in 1538, Johannes Sturm founded at Strasbourg the school which became the model of the modern German gymnasium. In 1812, a Prussian regulation ordered that all schools which had the right to send their students to the university should bear the name of gymnasia, by the 20th century, this practice was followed in almost the entire Austrian-Hungarian, German, and Russian Empires. In the modern era, many countries which have gymnasiums were once part of three empires. In Albania a gymnasium education takes three years following a compulsory nine-year elementary education and ending with an aptitude test called Matura Shtetërore. The final test is standardized at the level and serves as an entrance qualification for universities. There are both public and private schools in these countries. Therefore, gymnasiums often base their admittance criteria on an entrance exam, in Austria the Gymnasium has two stages, from the age of 11 to 14, and from 15 to 18, concluding with Matura. The Humanistisches Gymnasium focuses on Ancient Greek and Latin, the Neusprachliches Gymnasium puts its focus on actively spoken languages
4.
PASOK
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It was founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou as a democratic socialist and left-wing Venizelist party. As a result of the 1981 legislative election, PASOK became Greeces first left-of-centre party to win a majority in the Hellenic Parliament, formerly one of the two major parties in Greek politics, it has lost much of its popular support as a result of the Greek debt crisis. When the crisis started PASOK was the party with George Papandreou as Prime Minister. The party was a part of two coalition governments from 2011 to 2015 during which unprecedented austerity measures were taken in response to the crisis. The first members of the party were the organizers of the collapse of the military junta of 1967–1974. Its founder was Andreas Papandreou, son of the late Greek liberal leader and its founding mottos were National Independence, Popular Sovereignty, Social Emancipation, Democratic Process. Papandreou, a powerful orator and charismatic leader, explicitly rejected the ideological heritage of his father. At the November 1977 elections, however, PASOK eclipsed the EK-ND, doubled its share of the vote and won 92 seats, becoming the main opposition party. At the October 1981 national elections the PASOK won a victory with 48% of the vote and capturing 173 seats. He proved to be an excellent negotiator when it came to securing benefits, for example, in 1985 he openly threatened Jacques Delors to veto the entry of Spain and Portugal in the Community in order to secure more monetary aid for Greece. In 1986, the PASOK government amended the Greek constitution to remove most powers from the President and give wider authority to the Prime Minister, civil marriages, not consecrated by religious ceremony, were recognized as equally valid with religious weddings. At the June 1985 elections, received 46% of the vote and won 161 seats and it continued to be popular for much of its second term, especially in March 1987 when Andreas Papandreou successfully handled a crisis in the Aegean with Turkey. By late 1988 however, both the popularity and Papandreous health had declined. PASOK lost the June 1989 elections with 40% of the vote while the opposing New Democracy received 44. 3%, PASOK had changed the electoral law before the elections, making it harder for the leading party to form a majority government, so the legislature was deadlocked. Another election in November produced a similar result. After a brief period of a coalition government, in which PASOK participated. Its representation in the Parliament shrunk to 121 MPs in 1990, in opposition, PASOK underwent a leadership crisis when Andreas Papandreou was prosecuted over his supposed involvement in the Bank of Crete scandal. He was eventually acquitted and, in a reversal of fortunes
5.
Zografou
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Zografou is a suburb of approximately 71,000 in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Actual the community reports a population of 150.000 inhabitants and it was named after the Greek politician Ioannis Zografos. To the east of Zografou lies mount Hymettus, the area, being close to the centre of Athens, developed similar urban sprawl characteristics, with high-rise buildings of even 10 stories tall being the norm. The city is home to the Athens university campus and polytechnical school campus and therefore. Zografou includes the areas of Ilissia and Goudi. Zografou is an suburb of Athens, located about 4 km east of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 8.517 km2, towards the east the municipality extends to the forested Hymettus mountain. The built-up area of Zografou is continuous with that of Athens, a large campus of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is situated in Ano Ilisia, the easternmost quarter of Zografou. Ano Ilisia derived its name from the river Ilisos, which starts at St Eleousa, another quarter of Zografou is Goudi, in the northwestern part of the municipality. The main church of Zografou is consecrated to Agios Therapontas, with Zografou having been built on the hills of Hymettus, a common sight around the city are some very steep uphill streets. Zografou is served by bus lines 140,220,221,230,235,250,608,622 and 815, the eastern beltway Motorway 64 passes through the municipality. After the departure of the Ottomans from the area in the 1830s, the area came into the ownership of Ioannis Koniaris, mayor of Athens from 1851–1854, and Leonidas Vournazos. In 1902, Eleni Vournazos, widow of Leonidas, sells 1,250 stremma of the Kouponia/Goudi area to Ioannis Zografos, dividing it into plots, he sold them for installments of 112 drachma per month. The first houses were erected in 1919, within ten years,100 had been built. At this time, the foundations of the Church of St. Theraponta were erected, in 1929, the area, now known as Zografou, was split from the city of Athens and became an independent community. It was elevated to a municipality in 1947, its first president being Sotirios Zografos, in 1935, the area of Kouponia was incorporated into the community. Dimitri Kitsikis Public Foundation Gounaropoulos Museum, dedicated to the works of painter Giorgios Gounaropoulos, in addition, the sport club Ilisiakos, founded in 1927, is based in Ilisia a district that is shared between Athens and Zografou. Dimitri Kitsikis Royal Society of Canada Nikos Kourkoulos actor Marika Kotopouli actress List of municipalities of Attica City of Zografou official website News site for City of Zografou
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Marousi
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Marousi or Maroussi is a suburban city in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Amarousio dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic, its ancient name was Athmonon, Marousi is situated 13 km northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 12.938 km2, the built-up area of Marousi is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Pefki, Kifisia, Vrilissia and Halandri. Within Marousi lies the biggest forest in urban Athens, Dasos Syngrou, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the largest sports complex in Greece, built for the 2004 Summer Olympics, is located in the southwestern part of the municipality. The main thoroughfare is Kifisias Avenue, which connects Marousi with central Athens, Marousi has 4 stations on Athens Metro Line 1, and two suburban commuter railway stations, Nerantziotissa station and Kifisias railway station. Marousi is also home to a number of public and private educational institutions. Marousis favourable infrastructure has led to economic growth. The managing office of Consolidated Contractors Company, a large Middle Eastern, the Mall Athens, one of the largest shopping centres in southeastern Europe, is situated in the southwestern part of Marousi. Vivartia has its office in Marousi. Google Athens is headquartered in Marousi, the new building of Greek Ministry of Education is located in Marousi, in the district Neratziotissa. In the same district is located the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, the German School of Athens is also located in Marousi. Maroussi is the place of Greek Olympic Sport Center and it is located in the southwest of the suburb, in an area that is named Kalogreza. Maroussi has also some sport such as Dais Indoor Hall. Local teams are Maroussi B. C. with long-time presence in A1 Ethniki Basketball and A. C. Doukas with many titles in Handball and Futsal. The Olympic Stadium is used as home stadium by famous clubs of Greek football, currently by AEK, prince Michael lived in Marousi from his marriage to Marina Karella in 1965, since late 1970s
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Penteli, Greece
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Penteli is a town and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens metropolitan area and it takes its name from the Penteli mountain. The municipality has an area of 36.064 km2, the municipal unit Penteli 28.878 km2 and it is 14 km northeast of central Athens. Some of the neighbourhoods of Penteli are Agia Triada, Agios Dimitrios, Daou, the Penteli mountains were renowned in Classical Greece as well as in the Roman Empire as a source of the marble, which was also used to build the Parthenon. The Romans constructed a 140-foot water tower and aqueduct to supply water to the city of Athens, during the Greek War of Independence, the French philhellene Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance supported the revolutionary leaders. When she settled in Greece in 1834, she bought large plots of land in Athens and she had the Rododafni Castle in Penteli built for her. In July 1995, Penteli was ravaged by a large forest fire, according to Turkish former prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz, many of the forest fires that raged the Greek countryside during that summer were accually started by Turkish secret service agents. The forests of Penteli suffered damage again from the August 2007 fires, Rododafni Castle, also known as Pyrgos Doukissis Plakentias, a mansion built for the Duchess of Plaisance. Construction was started in 1840, but it was not finished until 1961, the Penteli Astronomical Station of the National Observatory of Athens, completed in 1936 List of settlements in Attica Official website
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
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Synaspismos
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The Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology, commonly known as Synaspismos and abbreviated to SYN, was a Greek political party of the radical New Left. It was founded in 1991 and was known as the Coalition of the Left, in 2004 SYN was a founder member of the Party of the European Left. SYN was the largest party of the coalition formed in 2004 called Coalition of the Radical Left. The Party of Democratic Socialism, a splinter from the Union of the Democratic Centre which occupied a position to PASOK, was the largest non-Communist member party. At this time KKE also left the coalition, after that, the other parties of the coalition and the renewing part of KKE decided to convert the alliance into a political party. Although the experiment seemed to have potential, serious ideological conflicts were afflicting the new party. At the legislative elections of 1993, SYN failed to pass the limit of 3%, but next year, Synaspismos got its highest national score ever in the 1994 European Parliament elections. Two years later, with 5, 12%, got its highest score in 1996 legislative elections, in the legislative elections of 2000, SYN was supported by the small Renewing Communist Ecological Left party and a small group of ecologists. AEKA was first split and little later disbanded in some months, the Tsipras candidacy was received well, especially so by younger voters, and formed the partys springboard for its good 2007 parliamentary elections showing. On 10 February 2008 Alexis Tsipras was elected party president, replacing Alavanos, at that time Tsipras did not hold a parliamentary seat, so Alavanos remained leader of the parliamentary group. After the legislative elections in 2009, Tsipras entered Parliament and became leader of the SYRIZA parliamentary group, SYN described itself as a radical left party, inspired by the ideas of the renewal of the communist and broader left movement in Greece and in Europe. It also fights for the merging of the movement along with the left. The partys culture has been enriched by its participation in the movement against the Neoliberal Capitalist Globalization. Synaspismos aspired to be a party, where, under the party flag. Therefore, SYN members were encouraged to form, or participate in, platforms mounted open discussions and published magazines, but might not work against party consensus decisions. Note, the word used is τάσεις, but the term platform is more fitting in English. The role of the platforms was vital especially in congresses, because each of them proposed a thesis on party strategy, in the National Committee elected by the last Congress, the rank was the following, Left Current, Renewing Wing, the Red-green Network and the Initiative. Since 2004 the Left Stream, the Red-greens and the Initiative formed the so-called Left Majority, in the European Parliament SYN was a member of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left group, and also a member of the European Social Forum
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Chalandri
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Chalandri is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region, Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around 12 kilometres from the centre, its location corresponds with one of the 10 ancient demes of Athens, known as Phlya. The municipality has an area of 10.805 km2, Chalandri was a small village until the rapid expansion of Athens during the 1960s and 1970s. Its built-up area is now continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Filothei, Marousi, Vrilissia, Agia Paraskevi, Cholargos, nevertheless, it has still a high ratio of open green areas per citizen in the Athens agglomeration. Several embassies are based in Chalandri and it is one of the largest suburbs in terms of population, with more than 70,000 residents. It holds an independent municipality status since 1944, Chalandri is served by the Chalandri metro station. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chalandri has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, Agia Varvara Ano Chalandri Doukissis Plakentias Kato Chalandri Patima Metamorfosi Polydroso Toufa Sidera Synoikismos American Community Schools is located in Chalandri. Municipal Infirmary of Chalandri Gialvalis Clinic is located at Chalandri and specializes in thyroid gland, sport clubs of Chalandri with presence in Greek national divisions are AE Chalandriou, GS Chalandriou and Nireas Chalandriou. List of municipalities of Attica Official website
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Kifissia
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It has traditionally been home to rich Greek families and major Greek political families.100 km2, the municipal unit 25.937 km2. Kifisia is situated in central Attica, at the end of the forested Penteli mountain range. The small river Kifisos forms the border of the municipality. Kifisia is situated 12 km northeast of Athens city centre, the built-up area of Kifisia is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Lykovrysi, Nea Erythraia, Marousi and Pefki. Kifisia consists of the neighbourhoods, Adames, Ano Kifisia, Kato Kifisia, Kefalari. It is a suburb with many parks and tree-lined streets. The main thoroughfare is Kifisias Avenue, which connects Kifisia with central Athens, the Kifisia station is the north terminus of Athens Metro Line 1. Cephisia was a deme of ancient Attica and it was the home of the famous dramatist Menander. Cephisia had become a famous retreat of philosophers during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian, in his Attic Nights, Aulus Gellius describes the unique ambiance of intellectual ferment and aristocratic leisure in an idyllic setting which he created there. It was also the practice of Herodes to provide instruction in philosophy for selected youths from Athens. The remains of some of his family funeral monuments lie at the centre of the town in Platonas Square and he also beautified a sanctuary to the Nymphs in the ravine of Kokkinara, in the nearby district of Kefalari. This chapel is an example of a monastery church originally provided with a fireplace. During Ottoman period, in 1667, Kifisia was visited by the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi and he described a small country town set in a fertile plain of paradisaic beauty, with three hundred tile-roofed houses. Half the inhabitants of the town were Muslims and half were Christians and he records that there was a single mosque, without a minaret, and many small Christian chapels - some of which survive today. The temperature in Kifisia tends to be lower than that of the city, so following the independence of Greece. Its popularity faded somewhat during the middle of the Nineteenth Century when the danger of raids by brigands who infested the nearby mountains was very real, however, the suppression of brigandage, and the arrival of the railway in 1885, led to the dramatic development of the area. For those unable to afford a house, many hotels were built. Following the liberation of Greece from German occupation in 1944, the British Royal Air Force ill-advisedly made its headquarters in Kefalari, accenture, Aegean Airlines, Barcleys, BP, Eurobank Ergasias, Eltrak, Ferrari Metaxa, Walmart, and Volvo have their head office in Kifisia
Petroupoli
